Today I’ll have to push beyond my personal boundaries, and I’m not sure I’m ready. On the way home, I spot a few people with iPods. They walk by me so quickly I can’t work up the nerve to speak to them. I’m tempted to chicken out. Then I spot a man wearing headphones in an art gallery. I wait for six minutes until he leaves the gallery. As he walks outside, my heart beats quickly.

“Sorry to bother you,” I stammer. The man looks startled. “I’m involved in this art project.” I show him my licence. “Can I listen to your iPod?”

“It’s not an iPod. It’s an MP3 player,” he says.

“That’s okay,” I reply. He hands me his headphones. For 30 seconds, I listen to the music of Canadian group King Cobb Steelie. When I hand the earphones back to him, he smiles and tells me his name is Kee.

The exchange lasts less than a minute. Kee heads down the street to another gallery. I head home prouder than when I passed my driver’s test.